family law

At Transgender Law Center, we advocate for the rights of transgender spouses, parents and children. We believe that people have the right to create the type of family that is right for them and to remain connected with their loved ones. We work with families of all sexual orientations and gender identities and address issues of marriage, domestic partnerships, parenting, foster care, and youth issues.

Because legal family relationships are often tied to a person’s legal gender, transgender people can sometimes experience legal problems in connection with their relationships with significant others, spouses, children, or other family relationships. Transgender Law Center can help people navigate the legal requirements to enter into (or dissolve) a marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership; fill out documents to give health-care decision-making power to a partner or other family member; or secure a parent-child relationship through adoption or a legal judgment of parentage. We also help people when their family relationships are challenged because of their trans status or gender expression.

Transgender Law Center Publications:

Transgender Family Law FactsThis abbreviated version of our Transgender Family Law 101 provides a quick overview of issues regarding marriage, domestic partnerships, parenting, foster care, and youth issues.

Family Law 101This overview of family law issues, co-created with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, covers marriage, domestic partnership, child custody, adoption, and foster parenting.

Transgender Law Center is proud to support the advocacy work of our partner organizations who work tirelessly to ensure that our families are protected and our relationships are recognized. The National Center for Lesbian Rights is leading the charge for legal rights and protections for transgender people and our families. For more information, please visit www.nclrights.org.

Client Advocacy: J.H.

Victory!

J.H. is an MTF nurse in Sacramento who entered into a valid different-sex marriage in Oregon in 2005, prior to her transition. In 2010, she and her spouse were audited by the IRS, and they were asked to provide documentation about a home they owned. Included among the documentation were their California driver’s licenses, which indicated that they were both female. The IRS then denied the property tax deduction and changed JH’s filing status to “single,” saying that as a result of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), their marriage was not recognized by federal law. Together with the DLK Law Group, Transgender Law Center contacted the IRS and presented evidence establishing that under state and federal law, a marriage that is valid and between different-sex partners at the time it is entered into remains valid thereafter until death or divorce. The IRS accepted this evidence and restored J.H. and her spouse’s filing status to “married.”

Client Advocacy: J.R.

Victory!

JR is a female state employee in Butte County, California. In 2010 her spouse transitioned from male to female. As a result, JR’s employer improperly reclassified JR’s spouse as her registered domestic partner for health insurance benefit purposes, an action that would have caused JR and her spouse to have to pay extra taxes on the cost of that insurance benefit each year. Fortunately, JR contacted Transgender Law Center, and we submitted evidence to the state agency’s legal counsel establishing that under state and federal law, a valid marriage between different-sex partners is not subsequently invalidated or “converted” to a domestic partnership as a result of one spouse’s transition. The agency agreed and restored the couple’s status to “married” in the agency’s records.